


Afternoon in the mall

by SrebrnaFH



Series: Legacy of Responsibility [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 13:57:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18801718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SrebrnaFH/pseuds/SrebrnaFH
Summary: Just a walk through the mall





	Afternoon in the mall

**Author's Note:**

> I can see Peter becoming rather close with little Morgan. Somehow.  
> I hope at least.

“Peter? What are you doing here?”

He twirled in place, not letting go of the little hand he had been holding.

“Um. MJ. Yeah, hi.”

“You told Ned you had some stuff to do and so I…” she trailed off, frowning. “Who’s the kid?”

“Uh. Well, yeah. I kind of… This is Morgan. Morgan, this is MJ, my friend. Say hi.”

MJ shot him an incredulous look.

“Morgan? As in, Morgan Stark?”

“Shh…” he looked around. “I promised to look after her for a moment and she wanted cheeseburgers and now we’re getting back to where her…”

“Mommy!”

He winced, ears pierced by the too-high squeak.

“What did we say about screaming like a little banshee?” he asked and Morgan cringed a bit.

“Not to,” she pouted. “But Mommy is right there, may I go to her?”

“No way,” Peter caught the little sticky hand even firmer. “No running in the crowds, Morrie. Happy would have my head if I let you. Come on, MJ, I’ll hand her over and we can take the long way going home… if you want to, that is,” he glanced at her anxiously.

“Sure. I was thinking a movie, but if you want to walk, we’ll walk,” she smiled and joined them, catching Morgan’s other hand with ease. “Why are you minding the little princess here?”

“Pepper asked me,” he explained simply. “It’s… like, I don’t know. Something to…”

He wouldn’t cry. He promised himself he wouldn’t cry. OK, he would, but only late at night, in his room, with his pillow pulled over his head. Not in the middle of the mall, with Morgan and MJ looking at him.

“Pepper Potts-Stark asks you to watch her kid?” MJ hissed. “I know you and Mr Stark were kind of friendly, but… babysitting?”

“I’m not a baby,” Morgan informed her gravely. “And Peter is the best. He lets me watch the fishes in the big tank downstairs for hours and helps me with my LEGOs. Happy says the blocks are too small for him and the fishes are boring.”

“The fish, Morgan,” Pepper stood in front of them, her smile small and kind of tired. “One fish, two fish, three fish.”

“But in the song it says fishes,” the girl pouted a bit again. “Peter sang me the song and there were fishes.”

“Technically, both are OK,” MJ blurted out suddenly. “But ‘fish’ is better.”

Peter was quite sure Pepper had been watching them from the distance as they walked - and obviously, there was a number of bodyguards seeded all through the mall - but now she  _looked_  at MJ.

“Michelle Jones, I presume?” she asked, the smile softening. “It’s good to finally meet you. Pepper Stark.”

“I know,” MJ shook the offered hand cautiously. “I mean, nice to meet you, too.”

“Well then, thank you, Peter. I assume that this little spattering of ketchup here means you two have eaten…” she traced a bit of red on Morgan’s sleeve. “At least she won’t be badgering Happy for more. Hopefully. Morgan, say ‘thank you’ and let’s go to the car. You still have homework to do, remember?”

“But Moooom… Can’t Peter come and help me with it? He has the best ideas…”

He crouched in front of the little girl and looked at her seriously.

“You know you should do your homework by yourself, right? But if you have problems with anything and you don’t want to bother your mother, I will be there on Sunday anyway, so we can sit and have a look, if you wish. If you don’t, we’ll do some drawing on that big screen, hm?”

“Will you help me with the new car?”

Morgan had  _perfected_  the Art of a Little Pout.

“Sure. Whole morning, just you, me and the new car. I’ll be there at ten.”

Slowly, slowly, she let go.

“Bye, Peter. Thank you.”

They turned back with a nod at Pepper - who returned it seriously - and walked slowly in the general direction of the movie theatre.

“OK, spill,” MJ elbowed his ribs after a few moments of silence. “How come you’re hanging out with the Starks, still? I get it that he was your mentor and stuff, but this…?”

“He would have liked me to,” he said softly. “I don’t… I can’t explain it, OK? It’s something I do. Pepper looks out for me, too, kinda. She allows me to…” he swallowed. “She lets me work in his laboratory, OK? And Morrie is always around and I kind of feel better when I do this.”

“She lets you work in Tony Stark’s lab?” she whispered furiously, facing him suddenly. “And you never told me?”

“It’s…” he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to find the right words. “It’s like inheritance, OK? I never really… I never really worked for him in the company. There. I said it. I was in the main building maybe twice. I only… kind of… was his assistant. Apprentice. Something. He was trying to teach me stuff. New stuff… MJ, I’m sorry, but this… This is something that was just… When we all came back, I only saw him for a moment, and didn’t even manage to say goodbye properly, and now Pepper was so nice and she let me work on the things we started all these years ago, I…” he sat on the nearby bench, pulling at his hair painfully, forcing himself to focus.

“Peter?” MJ’s voice wavered a bit. “ _When_  did you manage to see Mr Stark after we all came back? He died in the battle, didn’t he?”

_Shit._

“Are you telling me you were in the battle, too?” she sat next to him, whispering quickly. “Peter, look up at me, what are you… You were there. You saw it all, you saw him snap them out… didn’t you?”

He nodded mutely. What else was there to do?

“I can’t tell you anything else,” he said softly. “I’m not supposed to. I can’t talk about this, but I was there,” he looked up at her. “Can we maybe go to that movie now? I feel I need to kill some braincells today.”

“Peter…”

He shook his head.

“Not now. I… Do you know what is on Sunday?”

She watched him stand up.

“The Coming Back Day? Been a year since we all…”

“Mr Stark’s death anniversary,” he said simply. “I’m watching Morgan, Pepper doesn’t want her exposed to journalists more than she has to, and she wants… someone who isn’t hired help. Happy goes with Pepper, so I stay with Morrie.”

She was silent for a moment, slowly shaking her head.

“You’ve changed, Peter.”

“Didn’t we all?”


End file.
